Anatomy of a Single Girl by Daria Snadowsky

Published: 2013

Published by: Delacorte Press

Pages: 227

Copy Provided by: Author

Summary: Goodreads

Summary:
After everything that happened - my first boyfriend, my first time, my first breakup - jumping back into the dating game seemed like the least healthy thing I could do. It’s not that I didn’t want to fall in love again, since that’s about the best feeling ever. But as a busy college premed still raw from heartbreak, which is the worst feeling ever, I figured I’d lie low for a while. Of course, as soon as I stopped looking for someone, an impossibly amazing - and devastatingly cute - guy came along, and I learned that having a new boyfriend is the quickest way to recover from losing your old one. 

The moment we got together, all my preconceptions about romance and sex were turned upside down. I discovered physical and emotional firsts I never knew existed. I learned to let go of my past by living in the present. It was thrilling. It was hot. It was just what the doctor ordered.

But I couldn’t avoid my future forever. 

In Daria Snadowsky’s daring sequel to Anatomy of a Boyfriend, eighteen-year-old Dominique explores the relationship between love and lust, and the friendships that see us through.

Review:
I actually enjoyed this second book more than the first.  I felt that just being away from home allowed Dom to straighten up a little bit and step into adulthood.  Of course she reverts backwards as her parents announce a big change to the family but she learns from her breakup and begins to trust her instincts when it comes to other people.

I like how she places more emphasis on identifying her own thought processes.  Like when she and Guy fight about where their relationship stands yet she realizes that she doesn't really know what she wants in life. 

I think that after a big commitment to someone, it is good to play the field a bit and discover things you like and dislike about life and love and everything else in the world. It is a time to be self-critical and try new things and push your comfort zones, challenging yourself to new ideas and concepts  Guy is a good experience for Dom and it throws her for a loop to discover that what she thought she wanted, she didn't actually want at all.  I think both books to read in combination are a great for someone who is going through a coming of age from teen into adulthood. 

Anatomy of a Boyfriend by Daria Snadowsky

Published: 2007

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Pages:259

Copy provided by: Author

Summary: by Goodreads

Summary:

In her last semester at a private school in Fort Myers, Florida, seventeen-year-old Dom finds her life transformed by her first boyfriend, Wes, a track star at the public school her best friend attends.

Review:

Ms. Snadowsky kindly provided me with copies of both Anatomy of a Boyfriend and Anatomy of a Girlfriend years ago and I recently found them on my bookshelf as I was looking for reading material to take on a vacation.  I apologize for not writing a review sooner but it was nice to be able to read them back to back.

So Dom is in her last year of high school and going through the highs and lows of her first love.  And of course sex.  I won't lie. There was a lot of sexuality and language in this title but it definitely touched upon how foreign everything is when we first learn about sex, our bodies and the opposite sex.  Things are not like the movies.  We don't strip down naked and feel really sexy and experienced. There is awkwardness. And more awkwardness.  And experimentation.  Lots of it.  Top this off with being a newbie to relationships and there is a lot to deal with.  I enjoyed this book for it's raw honesty and naivety in relationships and sex but I did feel like Dom could be over the top at times when it came to Wes.  Wes seemed to put less emphasis on their relationship and spread his time and effort more evenly throughout his life  Dom began to get a little obsessive.  It made me wonder, does everyone go through this? I know I did when I was in university.  You start to lose track of who you are and concentrate on the "we" of it all. 

I think this would be a good title for a high school student who is new to relationships and sex.  I'm not sure I would use it for an ISU but there are definite issues to draw from the book.  Relationships between parents and a child/adult, dealing with adult issues, sexual encounters etc.